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Games in the classroom and the boardroom: How 'serious games' are helping us learn

A team of researchers is encouraging us to swap textbooks for games, as they drive the application of games in learning, engagement and research. Known as 'serious games', these games are designed for more than just entertainment. Ranging from digital applications to physical board games, they are developed for learning, problem-solving, raising awareness, research, and stakeholder engagement-with potential in both schools and workplaces.

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The Board Game As A Narrative Medium  

To read a narrative is to engage with an alternative world that has its own temporal and spacial structures. The rules that govern these structures may or may not resemble those of the readers' world." Storyworld means the mental model of these alternative worlds, which are also simultaneously transmedial, such that the Star Wars films, comics, books, board games, etc.

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Exploring immersive sim game design with Raphaël Colantonio: “You basically let the player cheat the game”

Check out our interview with one of the industry's most prominent creative minds for a quick dive into the immersive sim genre and Raphaël's approach to game development. Oleg Nesterenko, Game World Observer: I believe that one game design concept has grown to be almost synonymous with Raphaël Colantonio and Arkane, which is "Immersive sim," so let's start with that.

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These Pits Carved Into Rocks in Kenya Might Be Ancient Game Boards

Yale archaeologist Veronica Waweru was conducting fieldwork in Kenya last summer when she received a tip from a local: Tourists were removing hand axes from a site inside the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. Another site caught her eye during her visit: rows of shallow pits carved into a nearby rock ledge. Waweru thinks the pits were game boards once used for mancala, a family of two-player strategy games.

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Column:' Huge stretch' to link board game with colonialism

Not everything is linked to something nefarious or has some underlying social commentary, writer says of popular board game Settlers of Catan. This piece titled 'What's unsettling about Catan: How board games uphold colonial narratives' goes on to explain how Catan follows a familiar pattern of other 'colonialist' games such as Risk and pretty much anything else where the goal is to get the most resources and build out into the playing surface to win the game.

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Video game trauma can last for years

In video games where the protagonist plays an essential role in the plot and the player develops a strong bond with the character, it's entirely plausible that emotions may bleed from the character to the player. Cry of Fear is a horror video game that explores a wide range of particularly sensitive topics, from depression to self-harm, murder, and suicide.

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